Lacquer

Cultural Quintessence

Japanese Colors

Lacquer

Lacquerware, with its unique shine, is wooden tableware coated with the sap collected from Japanese lacquer trees. The lacquer coat hardens the wood and will slightly stretch or shrink in unison with it according to the temperature or humidity. For this reason, this surface processing technique is a good fit for Japan's climate with its four distinct seasons. Besides tableware, lacquer is also used widely for furniture, makie (lacquer art), and Buddhist altars. It's also called by different names according to region, such as Wajima, Tsugaru, Aizu, and Kiso lacquerware.

A Ceremony to Pray for Good Luck for a Bride and Groom: San-san-kudo (literally 'three, three, nine times'), the Exchanging of Nuptial Cups

This is a ceremony held to solidify the tie between husband and wife during a wedding. The motion of pouring sake into three stacked special cups is repeated twice, and then after the third time, the bride and groom take two sips and finish drinking it on the third. This is done three times, with three cups, thus the name san-san-kudo. From the top layer, the cups represent, in order, the heavens, the earth, and people. Three and nine have always been auspicious numbers